How Are Protestants Navigating a Moral and Spiritual Vacuum in Evangelicalism?

Host Curtis Chang talks with former White House staffer and Atlantic columnist Pete Wehner about why Pope Leo XIV is resonating with Protestants and evangelicals despite historic theological divides. Together, they explore the Pope's moral leadership while contrasting his dignified, intellectually grounded public witness with Donald Trump's increasingly erratic influence on evangelical political culture. The conversation examines a perceived spiritual leadership vacuum within Protestantism and calls pastors, congregations, and followers of Jesus to cultivate beauty, goodness, and truth as a long-term path toward renewing Christian public witness.

00:34 - Introduction to Pope Leo XIV's Influence

02:29 - Is There a Protestant Appreciation for Catholicism?

03:59 - What Is This Pope's Impact on Public Theology?

06:06 - Papal Influence in Past Administrations

11:19 - The Collapse of Evangelical Public Theology

14:18 - Can Protestants Still Exert Moral Influence?

21:16 - The "Mad King" and Trump's Cognitive Decline

28:42 - What Can Pastors Do?

32:00 - The Importance of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth

37:08 - What Is The Pope's Transcendent Influence?

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Referenced in the Episode:

• Pete Wehner's article "The American Pope vs. the American President"
• Pete Wehner's article "The Apotheosis of Donald Trump"
• Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical Letter: Magnifica Humanitas
• The Madness of King George (YouTube free with ads)
• David Bentley Hart's The Beauty of the Infinite
• Wordsworth's The Prelude, Book 14
• Good Faith's course: The After Party

Scriptures Referenced:

• 1 Timothy 3 (ESV)
• Titus 1 (ESV)

Protestant and Catholic Leaders Referenced:

• Pope John Paul II
• Pope Benedict XVI
• Pope Francis
• Reinhold Niebuhr
• C.S. Lewis
• Billy Graham
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• John Stott
• Karl Barth
• Oliver O'Donovan
• Rowan Williams
• Dr. Tim Keller

More from Pete Wehner:

• Pete Wehner's articles at The Atlantic
• Pete Wehner's opinion pieces at The New York Times

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

How Can Freedom, Faith, and the Fight Beyond A Holiday Shape Us?

Host Curtis Chang talks with sociologist Dr. Angel Adams Parham about the history of Juneteenth, from the 1865 emancipation announcement in Galveston, Texas, to its meaning for American freedom, racial justice, and collective memory. Together, they explore the spiritual resilience of the Black church, its influence on Christian theology and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and why Juneteenth matters for all Americans. They also consider how Christians can celebrate Juneteenth with both joy and historical honesty.

02:05 - The Historical Story of Juneteenth

05:11 - What Were the Limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation?

09:28 - An American Pattern of Incomplete Freedom

13:34 - How Do We Preserve the Meaning of Juneteenth?

19:24 - The Pain of Historical Erasure & Cultural Setbacks

23:43 - Scripture as a Freedom Narrative Fostering Resilience

29:22 - The Universal Longing To Be Free

32:06 - The Black Church's Contribution to the Christian Story

35:54 - Embodied Practices for Juneteenth

39:09 - The Spiritual Promise of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

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Referenced in the Episode:

• Transcript of The Emancipation Proclamation
• Union General Gordon Granger's announcement: General Order No. 3
• Claude Atcho's Reading Black Books
• Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (pdf)
• Transcription of an interview with ex-slave Felix Haywood
• Reggie L. Williams' Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus
• Phillis Wheatley's letter to Rev. Samson Occom
• James Weldon Johnson's poem Lift Every Voice and Sing
• Manhattan Harmony Four's recording Lift Every Voice And Sing
• The Fisk University Quartet's Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Scriptures Referenced:

• Exodus 12:31–15:21 (ESV)
• Isaiah 61 (ESV)
• Leviticus 25 (ESV)
• Luke 4:14–30 (ESV)

More From Dr. Angel Adams Parham:

• Dr. Parham's bio: the University of Virginia
• Dr. Parham's Website
• Dr. Parham's book The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What does it mean to stay fully human in the age of AI?

Host Curtis Chang sits down with Pulitzer Prize finalist and acclaimed technology critic Nicholas Carr to explore how AI, social media, and digital life are reshaping human attention, identity, education, and spiritual formation. Carr warns that technologies promising efficiency often erode the embodied presence, deep thinking, struggle, and meaningful friction that make us fully human. Together, Curtis and Nicholas uncover surprising common ground in the urgent work of preserving human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.

00:37 - Introduction to Nicholas Carr and His work

03:52 - What Is Technology's Social Impact

04:03 - Disembodied Communication and Negative Emotions

05:27 - What It Means to Be Truly Human

11:32 - Information vs. Formation

14:38 - Why Is AI So Unsettling?

18:54 - Stop Rushing the Adoption of AI in Education

22:02 - AI and the Erosion of the Self

25:08 - An Institutional Response to AI

27:36 - Forming the Next Generation

31:10 - Countercultural Imperatives for Leaders

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Mentioned in This Episode:

• Nicholas Carr's The Atlantic article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
• Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
• Nicholas Carr's Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart
• Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation
• Vatican document on AI, Antiqua et Nova
• The Christian Scholars' Conference at Pepperdine University

More From Nicholas Carr:

• Nicholas Carr's website
• Nicholas Carr's Substack: New Cartographies
• Nichoals Carr's blog: Rough Type

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Have You Ever Met a Secular Professor Who Became a Christian?

In this episode of Good Faith, Curtis Chang talks with historian and UNC professor Molly Worthen about her surprising journey from secular skeptic to Christian believer—and what her story reveals about faith, doubt, college, and perceived crises in higher education. They explore why so many Christian students struggle with faith on secular campuses, how parents can help college-bound kids find mentors and community, and how Christian study centers are creating spaces for honest questions, intellectual formation, and spiritual growth. Molly also explains why the search for meaning in the age of AI may open new doors for Christian faith to thrive.

02:58 - Professor Molly Worthen Describes Her Faith Journey

06:22 - Is The Resurrection a Historical Truth?

10:23 - Molly's Leap of Faith Was Intellectual

11:25 - Why Do Students Leave Church in College?

13:48 - The Role of Christian Study Centers

19:49 - Students Seeking Mentorship

25:41 - Faith, Politics, and Crisis of Meaning

29:43 - The Timeless Questions of Faith Are Still the Dominant Ones

31:14 - What's The Professional Cost of Being a Public Christian on Campus?

34:01 - Can You Have a Healthy Relationship With Doubt?

39:28 - Advice for Parents of College-Bound Students

More about the Consortium of Christian Study Centers

More about the North Carolina Study Center

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Mentioned in This Episode:

• Molly Worthen's Spellbound
• LifeWay Research: Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults
• Tim Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

More From Molly Worthen:

• Molly Worthen's faculty page at UNC
• Molly Worthen's website
• Molly Worthen's Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Are Aliens Demons, Our Cosmic Neighbors, or Something Stranger?

Host Curtis Chang and author Andy Crouch explore the theological implications of UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and the possibility that humans are not the only created beings in the cosmos. They ask whether aliens should be understood as material creatures, angels and demons, image bearers, or cosmic neighbors—and what Scripture, Christian theology, and even Aquinas suggest about our human uniqueness. Along the way, they consider whether first contact would reveal Christian love, humility, and wonder—or our instinct toward fear and domination.

00:47 - Introduction to Alien Life and Declassified UFO Reports

02:19 - Do Aliens Exist?

08:32 - The Value of Pondering Alien Life

13:02 - Aliens vs. Angels and Demons

23:18 - God's Mysterious Creatures in Scripture

27:42 - The Octopus Dilemma and Human Specialness

38:26 - Missional Work and Alien Life?

44:26 - The Nature of God's Love

48:49 - Domination or Love : The Human Response to Aliens

50:58 - Andy Imagines Worshipping with Cosmic Neighbors

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Scriptures Referenced:

• Job 1–2 (ESV)
• Job 38–41 (ESV)
• Genesis 1–2 (ESV)
• Genesis 4 (ESV)
• Ephesians 2 (ESV)
• 2 Peter 1:4 (ESV)
• Romans 8 (ESV)
• Isaiah 11 (ESV)
• Romans 10 (ESV)

Mentioned in This Episode:

• UFO-related declassified files
• UAP disclosure
• Meghan Sullivan and Notre Dame's DELTA project
• What is the Fermi paradox?
• Eleanor Stump's Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering
• C.S. Lewis's Perelandra
• Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary: A Novel
• A scene from Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• A scene from Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• A scene from Denis Villeneuve's Arrival
• St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica: reason / will / dominion
• Salvation as Theosis: The Teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy (article)
• Isaiah's peaceable kingdom
• Thunderbird in Native American traditions
• Do octopus brains work like humans'? (article)
• Pythagoras and Johannes Kepler's Musica Universalis or the Music of the Spheres

More From Andy Crouch:

• Check out Andy's website
• Check out Andy's work at Praxis
• Read Andy's book: The Life We're Looking For

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Is Mortality the Enemy of a Meaningful Life?

Curtis Chang sits down with psychologist Dr. Dan Allender for a searching conversation about aging, mortality, Christian hope, and the surprising freedom of growing older. Together, they explore why getting older is not merely decline, but an invitation to deeper purpose, tenderness, grace, and wisdom—especially in a culture determined to deny death. From caring for aging parents to reimagining retirement, Dan and Curtis offer biblical insight and personal honesty for anyone seeking renewed purpose, peace, and courage as we grow older.

00:43 - Introduction to Aging Well Spiritually, Not Physically

03:25 - Psalm 90 and When to Start Thinking About Age?

05:40- Why Does Our Culture Avoid Aging?

09:52 - Are There Gifts in Getting Older?

19:10 - Counting Your Days: A Biblical Perspective

25:05- Psalm 92: The Righteous Stay Vital By Serving Others

29:14 - The Problem with Retirement Culture

34:32 - What About the "Sandwich Generation"?

40:55 - Our Inner Emotional Age

44:45 - The Power of Story From Lives Well Lived

50:20 - Tending to Your Past Selves

Please Enjoy the Reading Guide for This Episode: https://bit.ly/danallenderreadalong

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Scriptures Referenced:

• Psalm 90:12 (all versions)
• Psalm 92:14 (all versions)
• Genesis 16 (ESV)
• Hebrews 4:11 (all versions)

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
• Good Faith podcast episode 211: Nancy French's Joyful Grandparenting Lessons & Living Like Tomorrow Isn't Guaranteed
• Schindler's List scene: "I didn't do enough"

More From Dan Allender:

• The Allender Center resources
• Dan Allender at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology
• The Allender Center Podcast

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Is Spiritual Weariness and How Can We Find Renewal?

In this episode of The Good Faith Podcast, Curtis Chang chats with Tish Harrison Warren—Anglican priest, former New York Times columnist, and author of What Grows in Weary Lands—about burnout, spiritual weariness, and the exhaustion that escapism and rest alone cannot fix. Tish explains how polarization, digital distraction, consumerism, and isolation can leave us tempted to "flame out" or "numb out." Instead, she invites listeners to "go deeper" through prayer, silence, embodied community, Sabbath, and the difficult but meaningful commitments that lead to lasting renewal.

00:36 - Introduction to World Weariness

02:43 - Tish Describes the Draining Experience of Public Faith

06:04 - What Are the Cultural Factors of Collective Burnout?

13:01 - Dysfunctional Responses: Reinvention and Escape

15:01 - Flame Out, Numb Out, or Go Deep

20:51 - Are There Practical Steps to Go Deep?

23:29 - The Practice of "Staying in Your Cell"

26:40 - The Tough Sell of Going Deeper

32:07 - The "Dark Night of the Soul" as a Growth Stage

36:11 - Learning from Historic Church Practices

38:04 - What Do Healthy Rhythms of Engagement and Withdrawal Look Like?

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Mentioned in This Episode:

• Tish Harrison Warren's What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience
• The Ezra Klein Show: Burned Out? Start Here.
• Curt Thompson on Covid-era digital fatigue
• Thomas Aquinas's idea of arduous goods
• St. John of the Cross's The Dark Night of the Soul
• Stanley Hauerwas: Evangelicalism Will Die of Exhaustion (conversation with Al Mohler)
• the Desert Fathers and Mothers: "Stay in your cell"

More From Tish Harrison Warren:

• Tish Harrison Warren's website
• Tish Harrison Warren's New York Times pieces
• Other books by Tish Harrison Warren

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Can Lead a Weary Soul to the Divine in a Post-Christian World?

Malcolm Guite is back for part two of our chat with him, and this time we go from atheism to awe, from the Psalms to the Holy Grail, and from Keats to King Arthur. Malcolm tells the wild story of how poetry cracked open his imagination and shattered his unbelief, leading him into the living presence of God — then shows why Galahad and the Grail might be the ancient, weird, luminous story our burned-out, disenchanted world needs now.

00:00 - The Sonnet Epiphany 1. Magi

01:28 - Introduction to Malcolm Guite Part 2

03:37 - From Atheism to Wonder

06:27 - Encountering Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale"

12:11 - The Augustinian Idea of Beauty

15:18 - You Are Not the Center of the Universe

20:44 - "Take Up the Tale" A Ballad Introducing Guite's Arthurian Epic

23:54 - Why Does Retelling the Arthurian Legends Matter Now?

25:06 - The Truth of the Wasteland in the Modern World

27:19 - Conclusion and Credits

Listen to Malcolm Guite pt. 1: Does Theology Need an Imaginative Spark to Grasp God's Mystery?

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Malcolm Guite's Galahad in the Grail
• Malcolm Guite's Epiphany 1 The magi
• Malcolm Guite's Sounding the Seasons
• C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy
• John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale
• Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo's The Confessions Of Saint Augustine

Scriptures Referenced In This Episode:

• Psalm 145 (1928 BCP)
• The Psalms (Coverdale edition) PDF version

More from Malcolm Guite:

• Malcolm Guite's website and blog
• Malcolm Guite's Youtube channel
• Malcolm Guite's books

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Is Ukraine's Fight Against Tyranny Already America's Failure?

New York Times opinion writer and Iraq War veteran David French joins Curtis Chang on the Good Faith podcast to explain why Ukraine may be the world-changing war Americans are ignoring. David argues that Ukraine's resistance to Russia has exposed America's retreat from moral leadership, transformed the global balance of power, and elevated Zelensky as one of the most consequential leaders of our time. From Trump's impact on NATO to Europe's growing defense buildup, Curtis and David explore what Ukraine reveals about U.S. power, Christian responsibility, global justice, and the fight against tyranny.

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02:41 - A Shift in the Balance of Power

08:51 - Ukraine's Rise as a World Power

10:03 - The "Trump Effect" on Germany, France, & Japan

16:30 - A Response to the Left's "Good Riddance to America" Argument

19:40 - Is the U.S. an unreliable partner?

25:41 - Why Americans Should Care About Global Affairs

30:00 - Who Is My Global Neighbor?

32:03 - Evangelicals' Narrow Political Focus

38:18 - Zelensky The Unlikely Hero

45:27 - Are There Virtues to Emulate from Zelensky?

Mentioned in This Episode:

• David French's article Meet the New Leader of the Free World
• Canadian P. M. Mark Carney's speech "middle powers must act together"
• President Zelensky's February 24, 2022 address to Ukraine
• Jeffrey A. Friedman: The Myth of a Bipartisan Golden Age for U.S. Foreign Policy: The Truman-Eisenhower Consensus Remains
• Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Scriptures:

• The Good Samaritan Luke 10:24-37 (ESV)
• Matthew 10:16-23 (ESV)

More From David French:

• David French's New York Times pieces HERE
• Follow David French on Threads

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Is There a Hidden Power of Communion in a Hopeless Age?

Hannah Miller King joins Curtis Chang on the Good Faith podcast to discuss her book Feasting on Hope: How God Sets a Table in the Wilderness and why communion is more than a symbolic church ritual. Together, they explore the Lord's Supper, Christian hope, embodied worship, and how the table of God forms Christians to resist consumer culture and carry resurrection-shaped love into a hopeless world. They discuss why this embodied practice connects believers to Christ's past sacrifice, present grace, and future return and show how the practice retrains our loves and sends us outward in mission.

02:28 - What Does Union with Christ Look Like Across All Traditions?

05:04 - The Differences: Symbolic vs. Sacramental Views

12:13 - Does the Lord's Supper Connect to Daily Life?

15:40 - Is It a Means of Hope in a Hopeless World?

26:40 - Is The Richness In "Remembering" Christ's Past, Present, and Future?

29:50 - Detaching From Worldly Loves to Re-Attach to God

33:10 - The Power of Routine Practice

35:09 - A Commission to Welcome Others

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Hannah Miller King's book — Feasting on Hope: How God Sets a Table in the Wilderness

Scriptures Referenced:

• Luke 22:19 (ESV)
• The Last Supper / Institution of Communion: Luke 22:14–20 (ESV), Matthew 26:26–29 (ESV), or Mark 14:22–25 (ESV)
• 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)
• Revelation 19:6–9 (ESV)
• Exodus 12 (ESV)

More from Hannah Miller King:

• Hannah Miller King's article at Christianity Today
• Hannah Miller King's website

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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.